U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,678, issued to Hesser on Dec. 20, 1994, teaches an improved structural panel in which a light-weight structural material is enclosed between two portions of sheet metal and the combinant panel is further strengthened by reinforcing steel bars which are housed and enclosed within the structural panel sheets.
When uniform structural panels are used to construct all or significant portions of a building, it is useful to formulate a standardized means of framing and positioning the various structural panels. A building will only be as strong as its weakest member. Accordingly, it is important to position and frame the structural panels with framing members which are capable of securing and holding the various portions of such building or structure and will also allow the flexibility of providing a variety of building accessories or options.
Aluminum is a useful material for constructing such building frame members. Aluminum has high strength properties for structural metal applications, has a high resistance to corrosion, is easily fabricated, is reasonably light weight, can be welded or mechanically fastened together, and otherwise has properties making it acceptable as a building material. For instance, it does not become permanently magnetized in the presence of a permanent magnetic field.
Aluminum is also desirable for other reasons. For instance, it is easy to work with and fabricate frame members from aluminum. This is because the appropriate alloys or blends of aluminum can be produced by an extrusion process. Extruding is a very efficient and reliable way to fabricate such building components and is desirable.
Standardization is also very helpful in this regard. There are a variety of building components which lend themselves to standardization. For instance, a typical house will have a pitched roof which extends from eave members along opposite sides through a pitched roof to a ridge top. Additionally, a building will normally have an interior baseboard. Most buildings, whether residential or commercial, will also have a need for conduits and passageways through which electrical, communications, and other wiring or cabling may be passed. Finally, most buildings will require a series of windows or other openings along exterior walls. Accordingly, it is helpful to be able to develop standardized apparatus which may be appropriate to each of these purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,075,811, issued to Keith, on Nov. 11, 1976, teaches both a roof panel that is light-weight and structurally strong and also a means of fastening such a roof panel together with nut-and-bolt-type fasteners which are tightened between pairs of structural panels through a protruding-accessory design to hold the frames of the two panels in close proximity with each other and then covered with a shroud. The apparatus taught by Keith can easily be seen to interrupt the continuity of the surface of one or the other side of each pair of structural panels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,373, issued to Eschbach, et al, on Jan. 25, 1977, teaches extrusions for partitions, walls, and enclosures which provide a general "C" frame. Included within the Eschbach patent are a variety of clip-on type connections, which include enclosed shrouds, which are useful in clamping and assembling such structural component panels of a temporary nature, such as the shell of a vehicle. The components of Eschbach are generally capable of manufacture with the extrusion process, but generally do not teach a means and apparatus of securely anchoring a more permanent type building, such as a house, to the foundation nor accommodating it with means of delivering conduit for electricity, communications lines, or other utilities.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,555, issued to Henges, on Apr. 8, 1980, teaches another means of linking structural panels which are of a solid-core type. Such includes interlocking frame members. In particular, Henges teaches a corner structure and a means and apparatus of pivoting or providing angled relationships between such structural panels.
The apparatus taught by Henges does not provide for any decorative aspect, nor for the area near the foundation of a wall through which conduit for electrical and communications lines may be passed.
What is not provided in the prior art is an apparatus for serving as the baseboard for an interior wall for a foundational shroud for an exterior wall for a permanent building manufactured of interlocking structural panels. It would also be helpful to have such a baseboard or foundational shroud which can be removed or clipped into place in order to install, remove, or service electrical or communications lines and to conceal and protect such lines from sight or from the elements.